We Are Who We Are

• Chloë Sevigny as Sarah Wilson, a Colonel in the United States Army and Fraser's mother
• Jack Dylan Grazer as Fraser Wilson, a 14-year-old who moves from New York to a military base in Veneto with his mothers
• Alice Braga as Maggie Teixeira, a Major in the U.S. Army, Fraser's mother and Sarah's wife
• Jordan Kristine Seamón as Caitlin Poythress / Harper, a seemingly bold and confident girl who is struggling with her gender identity
• Spence Moore II as Danny Poythress, Caitlin's older brother
• Scott Mescudi as Richard Poythress, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, Caitlin's and Danny's father
• Faith Alabi as Jenny Poythress, Caitlin's and Danny's mother
• Francesca Scorsese as Britney Orton, an outspoken, witty, sexually uninhibited girl
• Ben Taylor as Sam Pratchett, Caitlin's possessive boyfriend, and Craig's younger brother
• Corey Knight as Craig Pratchett, a soldier in his twenties, cheerful and good-natured, who is also Sam’s older brother
• Tom Mercier as Jonathan Kritchevsky, a major who works closely with Sarah

• Blood Orange as himself

• Beatrice Barichella as Valentina, Craig's nineteen-year-old girlfriend
• Sebastiano Pigazzi as Enrico, a playful eighteen-year-old boy from Veneto, who has a weak spot for Britney
• Vittoria Bottin as Sole, a friend of the group
• Nicole Celpan as Giulia, a girl interested in Harper
• Maria Teresa Cerantola as Teresa, a bar proprietor who secretly buys fuel from Richard

• Hans Bush as Colonel McAunty, the exiting base commander who is replaced by Sarah
• Jim Sweatman as Colonel Martin
• Tomeka Campbell Turley as Mel
• Gaia Schiralli as Monica
• Lisa Lazzaro as Loredana
• Brixhilda Shqalsi as Marta, Jonathan's girlfriend
• Giulia Manzini as Anna
• Jacopo Brigotti as Angelo
• Arturo Gabbriellini as Luca, Fraser’s love interest whom he meets while on their way to the Blood Orange concert in Bologna
• Emma Segat as Futura, a bartender that Harper meets at the Blood Orange concert

• Timotheé Chalamet[2]
• Armie Hammer[3]

In February 2019, it was announced that Luca Guadagnino was in talks with HBO to work on a new one-hour, eight-episode show tentatively titled We Are Who We Are. Guadagnino would direct the series and write the script with Paolo Giordano and Francesca Manieri. Lorenzo Mieli and Riccardo Neri were named as prospective executive producers.[12]

The US Department of Defense was initially supportive, and the show was to be filmed at the US army complex at Vicenza, which would also provide the extras. Guadagnino later commented that they must not have read the script; the Department of Defense later withdrew all offers of support and, according to Guadagnino, would have preferred the show not to happen. Ultimately HBO had a set built nearby to represent the base.[13]

The first reports described the main characters, Fraser Wilson and Caitlin Harper, as "a detached teenager who hails from New York City" and "a character [that] is hard to describe—beautiful, sometimes disapproving, poetic," respectively.[12]

On July 17, 2019, the cast was revealed by HBO and it includes Chloë Sevigny, Scott Mescudi, Alice Braga, Jack Dylan Grazer, Spence Moore II, and newcomers Jordan Kristine Seamón, Faith Alabi, Corey Knight, Tom Mercier, Francesca Scorsese, Ben Taylor and Sebastiano Pigazzi.[1][14]

Principal photography on the series was expected to begin in Italy in late May 2019, with production set to run through October, but production began in late July.[12][14]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 88% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 7.83/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "We Are Who We Are doesn't move mountains, but by focusing on the little details and allowing its central teens to just be, Luca Guadagnino creates small-screen poetry."[22] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and said, "Despite some flat characters, Guadagnino exuberantly spotlights his cast of up-and-comers, especially Corey Knight."[24] Writing for Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall gave a rating of 4/5 and wrote "Few transplants from the big screen to the small have as keen an eye, or ear, as Guadagnino, so the voyeuristic nature of the storytelling feels inviting rather than indulgent. (Mostly)."[25] Caroline Framke of Variety described the series as "so visceral as to become unsettling—but what else is being a teenager like, if not immersive, visceral and unsettling?".[26] Matt Roush from TV Guide stated that the series wants to be "shocking" like Euphoria, "but soon grows monotonous."[27]